mobydog

Can you reach Secret Harbor on the Safari/Dollar bus?

Thank you. I sent an inquiry to the Coki Dive Shop.

Still wondering if the dive shop is reopened at Sapphire Beach and if anyone knows the name or has a phone number/weblink or email address for them...

For those that have used kayaking Puerto rico...did you use the transport? Did it get you back to the ship in plenty of time?

Can you shore dive at Secret Harbor? And is there a dive shop there to rent tanks from? If you have a name and contact information, I would love it.

Has Coki gotten any better? We were there about four years ago and I felt like a got a contact buzz from all of the weed being smoked by the locals.

What is the name of the dive shop that operates out of Coki?

We are looking for a beach where we can shore dive from. Interested in links to dive shops at the location where we can rent tanks. I know there was a dive shop at Sapphire Beach but cannot find any contact information for them. Also, wondering if you can shore dive at Secret Harbor? Thank you in advance for your help.

Do you have any contact information for the Dive Shop on Sapphire Beach...we are looking to shore dive there on our upcoming trip. Thank you.

Hands down, Belize. You will need to take a boat out to the reef.

I just happened onto the Hammerhead boat when I was in Caye Caulker last week...they are partnered with a little shop on the island. I will ask my husband if he remembers the name.

Thanks for posting the dive info! Didn't know about that option in Roatan and it's a lot cheaper than Carnival. Glad you all had a great cruise!

Our driver hooked us up with tanks (his buddy has a dive shop). They only rented a regulator for my son and weights for both. We brought all of the other gear with us. We talked to Bananarama first when we got to West Bay but they would not rent the gear to us for a shore dive. We had to get it via Infinity Bay as they sold the Marine Park tag.

I had FTTF on my last cruise and still stood in line to get off and back onto the ship at ports. Was I supposed to go to guest services to skip the line?:confused:

Yes. They personally escort you past the line and right on to the tender...it was the best!

Where do you find the F2F to purchase???

It was sold out when we first booked our cruise. I checked back every day and finally one popped up as available. I was glad it did!

Meredith...when you get further into your planning let me know if you need specific information on the dive shops and shore diving locations, etc. We did shore diving from a simple logistics stand point. Our youngest child, we lovingly refer to him as the "boat anchor" is not scuba certified. It made it easy for us to all stay together and take turns with the youngest. Let's just say the teenager got the best end of the deal :rolleyes:

The scuba dive boat excursions are expensive. This was our economical way to go. All three of us dove in Grand Cayman twice for a total of $90 for all including some gear, tanks, lead and refills. We had some gear and rented some other. In Roatan, my husband and teen dove for $39 total for both, including purchasing their marine park pass.

I would sail on the Glory again. We really did enjoy our cruise. We are not brand loyal. Each cruise line and ship, for that matter, has it's plusses and minuses. I think each vacation is what you make of it!

The boys want to try one of the mega ships next time so I will have to keep my eyes peeled for a great last minute, past cruiser, Florida resident special :)

We have sailed the Western Caribbean before on Carnival. I almost did not rebook another Carnival cruise again because what a nightmare we had with the tendering process on our first one. The whole get a tender ticket from here, then sit in a completely different area here and wait to be called etc. was super annoying and took us over 1.5 hours to get off the boat in Belize. We are only in port for a finite amount of time and we plan a full day of activities for each port when we cruise. Losing so much time killed us.

This past cruise we got a FTTF...It was worth it for our family of four (I looked at it as a $12 per person week long benefit). It was fantastic to walk up to Guest Services and be instantly escorted down to the tender in front of everyone else. No need to scramble in the morning to debark with all the sticker/waiting business.

Additionally, we have never gotten on a ship before where our room was ready so we always had to tote our carry on luggage around with us for a few hours. Huge pain since we do not check our dive computers, regulators or camera gear. It was nice to have a ready room where we could drop our gear, kids could put on swim suits etc.

I loved being able to pop into Guest Services with no line and instant service.

It was nice to be Debarkation Group 1. Since we live in Florida and are driving we have always landed in the last group (we bring too much crap along to self debark).

So for us, in the big scheme of things, it was well worth the $49.95 and would totally do it again.

Greetings! We are just back from a wonderful relaxing week on the Glory. I love reading everyone's feedback prior to travelling and thought I would share with you our thoughts from our trip. Background: We are an extended family that travelled for spring break (Ages 70, 68, 44, 42, 13, 9).

We were lucky enough to purchase a FTTF prior to our sailing...we felt it was worth every penny and would do it again! The computers were down at embarkation as we entered the line which was growing ever longer but with FTTF we were able to skip the line and bolt on Board. The whole process from entering the port to entering our available room was under 30 minutes. Some of our bags made it there before we did :) Being able to be escorted down to the front of a tender line by cruise staff was great as we were able to be the first on the tenders. Additionally, the ability to walk up to Guest Services with no line and immediate assistance rocked (note: some people who waited in the Guest Service line for awhile will give you the stink eye:eek:). We were also in Disembarkation Group 1, which incidentally, the computers were down at Immigration, and they were hand checking passports so I am sure that line only grew throughout the morning. Overall, Money well spent. My parents were in a suite so they had Priority boarding as well but they went to a different line than we did.

Things We Loved:

• While number one was the time spent relaxing with our family and much needed down time, the boat offered many wonderful things.
  
• FTTF.
  
• Allyn Ball, comedian in the Punchliner, was freaking hysterical and not to be missed if he is ever on your sailing. We saw both his adult and family shows and he was fantastic.
  
• My 9 year old loved the Hasbro game show and he was picked to participate. ..it probably did not hurt that he was wearing an England jersey with Wayne Rooney on the back (cruise director from Manchester and huge Man U. fan).
  
• The whole family enjoyed Phil Hughes, ventriloquist show.
  
• Serenity Lounge (except for the righteous chair hogs, nuff said)
  
• Guys Burger Joint and my daily breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana Cantina
  
• Any martini creation from the Alchemy Bar. Richard the bartender has mad skills...be sure to order the martini tasting just to watch how he pours them all simultaneously.
  
• The salted caramel cheesecake at the At Sea Day brunch...best dessert on the boat.
  
• Richard, our cabin steward, if you are lucky enough to be in the belly of the boat in room 1394 and have him as your steward, you will have a fantastic experience! He was the best we have ever had! We had far better service than my parents had on Deck 7 in their suite.
  
• Husband and teenager enjoyed the gym.
  
• Kids loved getting their video game fix in at the EA Sports Bar.
  

Things That Were Just Okay:

• We did the early dining seating in the Platinum dining room. The food was just alright- nothing special and no crème brulee all week (I know, first world problems :rolleyes:)
  
• Dining Room Dress- oh boy, Carnival does not enforce the dress code policy at all. Items people packed to wear on vacation, I would not mow my lawn in, if you know what I am saying ;). If that is the best some people could pull together, it is a wonder they could afford the trip. Oh well, it made for some interesting people watching.
  
• I must admit it, I miss the table cloths. I also hate all the small plates every side dish comes on...makes for a crowded dining experience. We had a few bumpy meals where items slid around. Never happened with table cloths.
  
• We saw the Motown and the Latin Nights Shows by Playlist Productions- they were loud and mediocre at best. Not the best shows at sea we have seen. The female singers were far superior to the male leads.
  
• Kids Club- we like to hang out with our kids on vacation so the boys only went when something interested them on the schedule. We allowed them to check themselves in and out but they had to meet up with us immediately afterward so we knew what they were doing.
  

Things Not Impressed With:

• Towel Animal Theatre...even the children were not laughing. Will never get that 30 minutes of my life back.
  
• Not adjusting the schedule to address daylight savings time in the US and not in the islands...we were two hours diff in most ports.
  
• Wish they showed more current movies and sports on the big screen on the Lido deck. I enjoyed this on our Princess cruise but nothing caught my interest on the schedule. Teenager wished they showed more European soccer.
  
• The adult comedy shows were standing room only...they really should do these in the Amber Palace. It was so crowded in there and the lines were insane...they snaked around to the Casino just to get in.
  
• Love the concept of miniature golf and ping pong as activities on a cruise ship...however, putting these on the top tiers of the ship makes for an interesting and very windy experience.
  
• In the cabin next to us was the most unhappy pair of children who ever set sail on the high seas. They cried day and night. Either their parents brought ear plugs or just don't care. To make matters worse, they were also at the early dining where their lovely spawn sat near us and we got to enjoy them wailing throughout their entire meal for all SEVEN nights. :mad:
  

Itinerary

Okay...so let's talk about the itinerary. On our Roll Call...we had much debate about ship time v. local time. I have never cruised in the spring after daylight savings time. This was a hot mess. We were TWO hours different than ports. No big deal when we rolled into Cozumel on ship time at 10 a.m. (8 a.m. local time) but it did impact our plans in Belize when we arrived at 8 a.m. (6 a.m. local time). Let me tell you, the locals HATE it (and so do we). Carnival should either adjust their itinerary or switch to Central Time once they cross over in the Western Caribbean to make the whole experience more palatable. With that said, here is what we did in each port...

Grand Cayman- First and foremost, I LOVE this island- we honeymooned here and have been back for land based vacations. My parents and youngest son took the Grand Cayman Island Tour through Carnival that included a visit to the Turtle Farm. They enjoyed their trip (I think they could have done this on their own but who am I to complain since they took a child with them ;)). I went with my husband and teenager via local bus to Turtle Reef to scuba dive. We were able to shore dive and get two dives in that day. Fantastic experience.

Cozumel- There were 6 boats in port that day. My parents and family took a cab to Paradise Beach Club. My husband and boys loved the inflatables in the water, kayaking and paddle boarding. I enjoyed lounging on the beach and the beautiful pool. Very clean and nice. Food and drinks were great.

Belize- My family took a water taxi over to Caye Caulker. We met two great people on the water taxi from our ship and joined them on a snorkeling tour to the Coral Gardens and Shark/Ray Alley. It was cool experience to be able to see the sharks and rays so close. Because of the TWO hour time difference and water taxi schedule, we had not spare time to really explore the island and make it back to the ship on time, much to our dismay. My parents took the tender over, walked around the port area and headed back on board.

Roatan- My family and parents hired a driver from Victor Bodden Tours to show us around the island. Our driver was Lionel and I would highly recommend him. We went to see the monkeys (My 9 year old loved them the last time we were there and was dying to go back), drove through Coxen Hole and then headed to West Bay. I snorkeled with the 9 year old in front of the Infinity Bay Resort and my husband and teenager shore dove (you can rent gear and get a Marine Park Pass from Infinity Bay Divers). It was spectacular. While were doing this, our driver took my parents to the West End to shop and grab a bite to eat. We set up a meeting time and he picked us back up in front of Infinity Bay.

We could not have asked for better weather...the forecast was for rain three of the four ports but each port we had nothing but sunny skies and nice breezes!

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability!

Thank you all for the great suggestions! Keep them coming!

1Kaper...I had previously read your review and it was great! When we sailed the Liberty, I would drop my little one off at the Kids Club and head to the Serenity Lounge for a little quiet time. It was my slice of heaven :)

I went to one and it was excruciating to sit through. If Bingo wouldn't had been next, I would have left.

 

In order to get picked, you have to jump up and down and basically act a fool to get the CD's attention. Then if you answer the trivia question right, you go up on stage. The games just take too long and I hated it. But there are some people of course that think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Your kid may like it but it just wasn't for me. And I too was excited when I first heard about it. Now you couldn't pay me to sit through another one.

Lol. I am sure I will feel exactly like you. The nine year old on the other hand will be the crazy person trying to get picked!:rolleyes:

Thanks! Did you do any of the Hasbro Game Shows? My 9 year old has interest in this...

We are departing on the Glory on Sunday...for those of you who have cruised it before...what are you favorite foods, shows, activities, quiet zones, special treats that you loved about this ship that may not be common knowledge..

We have been there twice...You should absolutely get off the ship but have a planned activity. Around the port area is just okay but the country has beautiful parts! Go cave tubing or plan a watersport of your choice!

we have gone cave tubing twice in Belize with our boys using cavetubing.com and they were great. I would send the husband and older boys...they will love it!

The only cruise I've ever taken stayed in the Eastern time zone, so I can't answer from experience, but with our upcoming cruise, this is something for us to think about as well

 

The information i've gathered is that the itinerary and the ship STAY with Eastern time no matter where you are. So if your itinerary says you're arriving in Roatan at 7:00a, that is 7:00a eastern time, 6:00a local time.

It would be 5 a.m. in Roatan as they do not follow daylight savings time....that is my concern.

We are heading out on Sunday on the Carnival Glory. Many of the ports do not follow DST or do not change until April 6th. In your experience, does Carnival change at any point to central time zone?

Per our itinerary, if we stay on Miami time we will be in ports at some ridiculously early times (i.e. 5 a.m. arrival in Grand Cayman:eek: and Belize and Roatan at 6 a.m. )